Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Mumbai University to furnish results of nearly 30 students in a ‘sealed envelope’ so that the court can decide if the results need to be distributed amongst them.

The direction came from a Division Bench presided over by Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Riyaz Chagla that heard a writ petition filed by Kandivali-based BK Shroff College of Arts and MK Shroff College of Commerce.

The college has challenged the “arbitrary, unilateral and capricious decision” given by the Low Attendance Redressal Committee of the Mumbai University on March 18, 2017.

The committee was approached by 39 students who were notified in the college defaulters’ list and were prevented from appearing in the final exams of first year. The exams were scheduled to take place in April 2017. The committee, however, allowed only 30 students to appear and rejected the pleas of nine students, that too without citing any specific reasons. Pursuant to the committee’s orders, the college allowed the 30 students to appear but now has withheld their results.

In its petition, the college has said that it has a transparent and accurate procedure of recording the attendance of students. The college has also claimed that it is one of the ‘few’ institutions that strictly follow the rule of minimum average attendance as a condition precedent for permitting the students to appear in exams.

Citing the orders of the committee, the college has said, “The order of the committee on the face of it is illegal as it is a non-speaking order. The orders do not disclose the grounds on which a grave omission on the part of students is condoned in 30 cases while upheld in nine cases.” Advocate Rui Rodrigues, appearing for the University, said, “I am being asked to furnish the results in sealed envelope. The same would be done on the next date, that is Thursday.”